OF INTEREST. IN ORANGE COUNTY, LOCAL 6. THEY CALL THEMSELVES INTERNET CAFES, BUT DETECTIVES CALL THEM STRIP MALL CASINOS. NOW A STATEWIDE BUST HAS SHUT DOWN NEARLY 20 OF THEM, MANY HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. MIKE DEFOREST IS LIVE AT THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT IN ORLANDO. SO, MIKE, WHY WERE THESE CAFES STILL IN OPERATION. I THINK -- I THOUGHT WE ALREADY WENT THROUGH THIS BUST BEFORE? Reporter: THAT IS WHAT INVESTIGATORS ARE SAYING, HAVEN'T WE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE. WE DON'T KNOW WHY THEY ARE OPEN. INVESTIGATORS HERE SAY THEY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THESE PLACES ARE OPEN. THEY SAY THE LAW -- A NEW LAW IS VERY CLEAR THAT THE TYPE OF SWEEPSTAKES GAMES PLAYED AT THESE SO-CALLED INTERNET CAFES ARE ILLEGAL, AND YET MORE AND MORE OF THEM KEEP OPENING UP AGAIN. WE THOUGHT WE WERE VERY CLEAR LAST YEAR. THIS IS AN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. IT CAN NOT BE TOLERATED IN THE COMMUNITIES OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA. Reporter: STATE INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY ARE STUNNED. JUST LAST YEAR, THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT WRAPPED UP AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLIED VETERANS OF THE WORLD, AN ORGANIZATION THEY SAY WAS RUNNING ILLEGAL CASINOS IN STRIP MALLS. THE GROUP'S MASTERMIND IS NOW SERVING A 6 SERVING A 6-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE. EARLIER THIS YEAR THE STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED A NEW LAW BANNING THE TYPE OF SWEEPSTAKES GAMES PLAYED IN THE SO-CALLED INTERNET CAFES AND AGENTS RA INTERNET CAFES AND AGENTS RAIDED A DOZEN MORE SIMILAR CAFES THAT HAVE REOPENED SINCE THE NEW LAW TOOK EFFECT. WHEN HI LEARNED THAT THERE WERE MORE OF THESE THAT HAD OPENED, I WAS IN SHOCK. I JUST HOPE IT IS CLEAR TO EVERYBODY, THAT IF THEY OPEN, WE ARE COMING. WE ARE NOT DONE. THIS WASN'T A ONE-TIME HIT. Reporter: AUTHORITIES ARRESTED I HAVEN VEGA AT HIS LAKE MARY HOME. HE RAN THE CYBER CENTER IN CLERMONT AS WELL AS SIX OTHER INTERNET CAFES AND DUVAL COUNTIES. INVESTIGATORS ALSO RAIDED ANOTHER UNRELATED GAMBLING OPERATION IN THE JACKSONVILLE AREA. SOME INTERNET CAFE OWNERS TRIED TO SUGGEST A LOOPHOLE IN THE NEW STATE LAW ALLOWS THEIR SWEEPSTAKE GAMES BUT STATE AUTHORITIES BEG TO DIFFER. THERE ARE NO LOOPHOLES. THAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE. THERE ARE NO LOOPHOLES IN STATE STATUTE. IT IS ILLEGAL, PERIOD. Reporter: I JUST HAPPENED TO BE OUT AT THE CYBER CENTER THERE IN CLERMONT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. THAT IS BECAUSE CUSTOMERS THERE WERE COMPLAINING A POWER OUTAGE CAUSED ALL OF THEIR WINNINGS ON THE SWEEPSTAKES GAMES TO JUST VANISH FROM THE COMPUTER SCREENS. THEY WERE ANGRY BECAUSE THEY HAD NO RECOURSE, NOBODY TO COMPLAIN TO TO TRY TO GET THEIR MONEY BACK. INVESTIGATORS ARE WARNING CUSTOMERS LIKE THOSE TO STAY AWAY FROM THESE PLACES. IT IS ILLEGAL AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT IF YOUR MONEY DISAPPEARS, LAUREN. ALL THOSE PLACES AND THEY ONLY ARRESTED ONE PERSON TODAY. ANYBODY ELSE GOING TO GET IN TROUBLE? TO BE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY? Reporter: RIGHT NOW THE BIGGEST THING TODAY WAS RAIDING THESE PLACES, SEIZING COMPUT THESE PLACES, SEIZING COMPUTERS, SEIZING DOCUMENTS. THEY SAY ONCE THEY GO THROUGH THE EVIDENCE, THEY WILL ALMOST

ORLANDO, Fla. -

The Illegal Gaming Task force served search warrants in five Florida counties Thursday.

The warrants targeted Internet cafés owned by Ian Vega of Lake Mary and Peter Miller of Neptune Beach, and are part of a crackdown on illegal gambling center operators.

Vega was previously arrested and on charges relating to keeping a gambling house.

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“These warrants are a key step in investigating organizations claiming to be ‘Internet cafés’ but actually conducting illegal gaming. My Office of Statewide Prosecution will continue to collaborate with law enforcement on these cases,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a release.

The warrants were executed in Brevard, Columbia, Duval, Lake and Marion counties, where computers, banking records, employee rosters and money related to illegal activity were seized.

“These warrants will likely lead to the arrests of key figures within these organizations for racketeering and money laundering,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said in a release. “This is a warning to other so-called internet café operators. If you operate outside the law, you are a target.”

In Lake County, warrants were enforced at the following establishments: Hill Top Sweepstakes, Lucky Joes Sweepstakes, Lucky Stars Sweepstakes, the Grand and Internet Café.

In Marion County, warrants were enforced at Senior and Senior Café.In Brevard County, warrants were issued at Lucky’s Internet Café — Rockledge, United American Apparels in Merritt Island, Melbourne, West Melbourne and Rockledge, Mag 7, Coconuts Internet Café, Lucky Shamrock Arcade and Pirates Too.

Two of the cafes shut down in Seminole County were under the name Ivan Vega, and the third is listed as “Warehouse.”

The task force is comprised of FDLE Agents, Seminole County Sheriff Donald Eslinger, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson and the Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Local law enforcement agencies also served warrants in their jurisdictions, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrested five Internet café site managers as part of the operation.

Last year, state investigators raided a group of internet cafes run by the group called "Allied Veterans of the World." Their attorney was recently sentenced to six years in prison for being the mastermind behind the illegal gambling operation.

The sate legislature passed a new law in 2013 that banned the sweepstakes played at the facilities.

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